Question Period Note: Concerning reports of international student fraud

There have been reports of international students and graduates facing removal from Canada due to fraud, while claiming having no knowledge of fraudulent activity. A joint IRCC-CBSA taskforce review of these cases is ongoing.

• With 800,000 active study permit holders here, there’s no doubt that we are training some of the best and brightest people from across the globe. International students are important to our communities and to Canada’s economy.

• It is important to recognize the inaccuracies in reports of students facing removal, the actual numbers are not accurate and significantly lower than the initial reports.

• IRCC is actively pursuing a solution for international students who are facing uncertainty due to having been admitted to Canada with fraudulent college admission letters.

• The Government of Canada’s focus is on identifying those who are responsible for the fraudulent activity and not on penalizing those who may have been affected by fraud.

• On a case by case basis, international students who are found not to be complicit in fraud will not be removed from Canada.

If pressed
• The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act offers the delegated authority to use discretion, and as appropriate, this will be exercised in the present context.
• In June, a joint IRCC and CBSA taskforce was established to review cases impacted by investigations into letter of acceptance fraud to ensure that genuine students did not face removal from Canada. Some of these individuals sincerely came to Canada to pursue their studies but were duped by bad actors who claimed to be helping them apply to study.
• As of October 12, the taskforce has reviewed more than 103 cases, while others make their way through the system. Of the reviewed cases, 63 individuals were determined to be genuine students.
• In addition, I announced the intention to implement two new measures to strengthen Canada’s immigration system. Beginning in December 2023, post –secondary designated learning institutions (DLIs) will be asked to verify each applicant’s letter of acceptance directly with IRCC. This updated process aims to protect prospective students from letter of acceptance fraud by confirming the applicant’s information with the DLI that they intend to study at, before a study permit is issued.
• IRCC is also working with DLIs, provinces and territories, and national education associations to develop and adopt a ‘recognized’ institution model that would identify DLIs that provide top-quality support and learning experiences for the international students they welcome to Canada. DLIs who demonstrate those qualities would benefit from expedited study permit processing.

If pressed on fraud detection measures
• We are taking every opportunity to crack down on dishonest and fraudulent consultants who seek to abuse Canada’s immigration system and take advantage of those seeking to visit, work, study or settle here in Canada.

If pressed on protecting students
• We recognize the immense contributions that international students make to our country and we are committed to providing a path to Canada that is honest and transparent.

• All applicants must continue to ensure that, before applying for a study permit, they do their research, have an acceptance letter from a DLI, and refer to the official IRCC website to get information about our programs and fraud prevention.

If an individual believes they have been deceived by an unscrupulous consultant, we urge them to come forward and report fraud.

If pressed on non-genuine students
• As part of the task force’s individualize case review, not all students have been found to be well-intentioned. For example, they :
o Are subject to ongoing criminal charges, including cases such as physical assault, robbery, or the distribution of illicit substances, or a combination thereof.
o Were complicit with using fraudulent documents in order to enter Canada, and previously engaged human smugglers to enter other jurisdictions.
o Demonstrate stagnant or illogical study progression. For example, some individuals have claimed to have studied for short durations at multiple different schools without logical progression from one to the next.
• In these circumstances, the removal proceedings by the CBSA will resume.

If pressed on International Student Program re-design and impacts on students
• The Department is undertaking a review of the program to examine how we can better attract and retain students who can help Canada meet its economic, social and cultural goals, while helping ensure that international students are well supported while in Canada.
o This includes meeting our broad immigration objectives, while also working closely with provinces and territories and national educational institutions to discuss potential measures to strengthen program integrity and enhance protections to address student vulnerability, unethical recruitment and non-genuine actors in the program.
• IRCC is in the midst of consultations with provinces and territories, national educational associations and other key partners and stakeholders.

If pressed on PGWP
• IRCC will also complete an assessment of Post-Graduation Work Permit Program criteria and begin introducing reforms to better calibrate it to meet the needs of the Canadian labour market, as well as regional and Francophone immigration goals.

Media reports about students from India subject to removal orders and fraud concerns
• On March 14, 2023, a blogger writing for India Narrative, an online newspaper from Chandigarh India, falsely reported that “Canada was to deport 700 Indian students as visa documents found to be fake”.
• Peaceful demonstrations were held in the parking lot of Airport Rd. Mississauga in support of the Indians students facing enforcement action from the CBSA. Specifically, the dozen or so protesters who are camping out there in support of Lovepreet Singh who is scheduled for removal 13June2023. [Students facing deportation camp out and rally at CBSA office | The Star]
Status of CBSA Cases
• The cases reported in the media are linked to three large scale, administrative investigations into potentially fraudulent Letters of Acceptance and study permits dating back to 2018, conducted by the Canada Border Services Agency with support from IRCC.
• These IRCC investigations originally started as probes into Indian nationals who had elements of criminality and organized crime. The investigations go beyond Indian foreign nationals, implicating also Vietnamese and People’s Republic of China nationals.
• The investigations are ongoing. IRCC works closely with CBSA to combat abuse of our programs and shares relevant information as needed to support CBSA pursuit of criminal charges. CBSA Criminal Investigators do not have authority to investigate crimes committed outside of Canada.
• On June 14, 2023 Minister Sean Fraser released a statement on reports of international student fraud and shared that a taskforce between IRCC and CBSA had been formed to review these cases. The work of the taskforce is ongoing.
• On June 23, 2023 the CBSA released that charges have been laid against Brijesh Mishra, a citizen of India, for immigration-related offences. He is an individual named in the media reports for having defrauded students. [CBSA investigation leads to criminal charges for immigration offences including fraudulent letters for Canadian post-secondary institutions to Indian students - Canada.ca]
Status of the Genuine Students Impact by Fraud Task Force
• This process is intended to be a humanitarian approach to provide relief to certain impacted individuals, and acknowledges that a misrepresentation determination has been made by the Immigration Refugee Board.
• Of the cases reviewed as of October 12, 2023, 30 were approved for TRPs, while 15 files were returned to CBSA to resume enforcement action.
• The remaining cases include some individuals with reviewable cases who had already left Canada prior to an Immigration Division of the Immigration Refugee Board (IRB) decision, and others who have made a claim for asylum and are waiting on a decision in their case. The taskforce has reviewed and made decisions on these cases, in the event that intervention is necessary, after a decision is rendered for their asylum claim.
• The taskforce is aware of additional cases that have not yet been reviewed, as they are still awaiting decisions at either the IRB or Federal Court. If an exclusion order is issued in these cases, they cases may become reviewable by the taskforce in the future.

International Student Program Re-design
• With this unprecedented growth in the number of students seeking to study in Canada, the international Student Program is facing a number of challenges around program integrity, namely:
o public concerns about student vulnerability, profiled by a number of stories in the media; and
o The increase in demand and overall volumes has been accompanied by greater use of recruitment agents, many of whom operate overseas, leading to difficultly in monitoring and regulating unethical actors.
• Since last fall, the Department has undertaken extensive consultations with provinces and territories (both immigration and education ministries) as well as consultations with education stakeholders on potential changes to the International Student Program.
• These concerns and consultations have resulted in the program needing to re-think its approach to the ISP in order to modernize it by exploring ways to strengthening program integrity and enhancing protections to address student vulnerability, unethical recruitment and non-genuine actors in the program, ultimately better protecting international students and Canada’s interest.
• One of these policy initiatives will include seeking to collaborate with provinces and territories to strengthen designated learning institutions framework to bolster designated learning standards, establish protocols and governance to address unethical recruitment, and re-launch K-12 FPT working group to establish a quality assurance framework to protect minors.

None